Manager and the Saleswoman
by nolarin
Summary: When Andy is promoted to Regional Manager, Jo sends in another salesperson to take his place. When Andy finds himself smitten with her, will she reciprocate the feeling, or will Andy stay single?
1. Chapter 1

"Everyone, first big announcement ever," Andy said excitedly, coming out of his office.

"You make announcements all the time," Stanley countered in a bored voice, not looking up from his computer.

"Yeah, but never as the regional manager," Andy said, undeterred.

"What is it, Andy?" Pam asked, trying to help him out.

"We're getting another salesman to take my place. Jo sent me an e-mail, she'll be here a little late, she had to make the drive in from Tallahassee last night," he explained.

"Another female in this office?" Dwight asked shrewdly.

"What's wrong with another girl in the office?" Pam asked defensively.

"You all get on the same menstruation schedule, and—"

"Stop," Jim said firmly. "Just stop."

"Anyway," Andy clapped his hands together, "her name is Kyran Frantz, she'll be sharing the island with Phyllis and Stanley, so try to make her feel welcome."

He retreated back into his office, trying to avoid Erin's anxious looks. He'd turned her down a few months before, and it hadn't gotten less awkward over time. He settled himself behind his computer, not really sure what he was doing.

The elevator doors opened and Kyran stepped off onto the third floor. She hoisted her boxes so she could free her hand to open the door marked "Dunder Mifflin." It creaked open and she stepped inside, acutely aware of everyone's eyes on her.

"Welcome to Dunder Mifflin," the receptionist said with a smile.

"Hi, uh, I'm looking for an Andrew Bernard?" Kyran said tentatively, hoping she'd remembered the name right.

"Well, he's right behind you."

She turned to see a man in a grey suit, lavender shirt, and pink striped tie just behind her. He was smiling goofily.

"Hi, I'm Kyran Frantz. I think Jo should've e-mailed you?"

"She absolutely did, and it's great to meet you. Let me show you to your desk."

Kyran followed him approximately twelve steps to the only empty desk in the room. Had it not been her first day there, she could have said something cynical. As it were, she just smiled.

"Thank you, Andrew," she said, repeating the name in an attempt to remember it.

"Everyone just calls me Andy," he shrugged.

"Andy, then," she nodded.

"So, once you get all set up, why don't you come back to my office and we'll have a little chit chat, show you around, then you can get to it," he suggested.

"Sounds good," she said, taking a seat at her desk.

She looked around the office. It looked a lot like the last place she'd worked in Philadelphia, though they'd sold hospital equipment there, not paper. A few people were trying to discretely eye her up, so she got to setting up her desk. She had a few pictures and little trinkets that she spread out accordingly, smiling fondly at one of the pictures. When she looked up, she noticed even more eyes on her.

"Uh, hey guys," she said meekly.

"Where'd they bring you in from?" a red-headed woman across the room asked her.

"Oh, well, I worked at PanTech in Philly for a few years. My dad and Jo are friends, and Scranton is a little closer to home," she explained.

"How old are you?" a heavyset man in the corner asked.

"Uh, 29," she replied, feeling a bit like she was being interviewed all over again.

"Hot," he said, nodding approvingly.

"Kevin, that's gross," a woman at the island next to her chided.

"Can you do sales?" the woman across from her asked.

"Uh, well, I did fine selling hospital equipment," she said.

"This is paper, not hospital equipment," the black man across from her said in a bored voice.

"I think I can be pretty convincing," she shrugged.

"Let's hope so," he grunted.

Kyran sighed and stood from her desk, straightening her skirt and heading up to the boss's door. She turned the handle and poked her head in.

"Andy?" she said.

"Come on in," he gestured.

She stepped inside and closed the door, taking the seat across from him. He folded his hands on the desk and looked at her with mild expectancy.

"Are you nervous?" he asked.

"They don't really seem to like me all that much," she gestured to the others.

"They're a little rough around the edges," he defended. "They'll warm up to you, promise."

Kyran noted that she liked his smile. It was genuine.

"Thanks," she smiled back. "So, paper."

"Yep. Not exactly your area of expertise, but you'll pick it up. I mean, I never did. Terrible salesman. I lost us our biggest client just before our old boss left, then got them back and lost them again."

Kyran raised an eyebrow. He wasn't exactly inspiring confidence.

"And… I got your clients then, did I?" she asked tentatively.

"Yup!" he said, not quite sensing her tone. "Good luck with 'em. Not the most generous of them all, if you know what I mean."

"Does that mean they didn't like buying paper from you?" she asked.

"Uh… Yeah, that was kind of the gist."

"Anything I need to know before I start?" she asked, trying to veer away from the awkward conversation.

"Jo says you should be alright," he shrugged.

"Then… Why did you call me in here?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Uh… Well…"

"Maybe you could show me around the office?" she suggested.

"Yeah, that was it," he said, looking relieved.

They wandered back out into the office, Andy chatting away eagerly. Kyran was trying to avoid the staring that she wasn't quite used to.

"This is the break room," he said, leading her back into a smaller room. "And through there is our HR staff, and this is Ryan's room," he said, pointing to another large room and a closet respectively.

"Um, Ryan works in a closet?" Kyran asked tentatively before he could brush past it.

"Oh, yeah, he's a temp here. No big deal, really," Andy waved her off.

"I can hear you," a muffled voice called.

"Is that him?" Kyran asked quietly.

"Didn't realize the walls were that thin," Andy grimaced.

He led her into the back room and introduced her to Toby, the HR Rep. He then led her back through the gallery where she was stared at once again.

"Well, all of my old client files are in the bottom drawer there," Andy said. "And, if you need anything, my door's right here."

"Thanks," she said, taking her seat again.

Kyran dove right into her work, trying to avoid the prying eyes of her new coworkers. She chewed on the end of her pen as she read through one of the files. Andy hadn't been lying. His clients really didn't like buying paper from him. Over the past year with this one client, he'd barely managed to sell enough paper to stock a household printer. She sighed, readying herself for this conversation. It was time to turn on the charm that helped her sell surgical equipment. She picked up the phone and punched in the number. Phyllis and Stanley had stopped their work to watch her.

"Hello," she said with an airy cheeriness, "this is Kyran Frantz with Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. Am I speaking to Carl Schweitzer? …Well Mr. Schweitzer, I was just calling to let you know that your previous salesman Andrew Bernard has been promoted and now I'll be selling you paper… Yes, and I just wanted you to know that I am here for your paper needs. Day or night, I will be here to assist you, _anything_ at all… Well, thank you so much, sir… Oh my goodness, thank you! I'll put that in the computer right away… Yes sir, same extension. Well, I look forward to getting to know you…. Have a lovely afternoon."

She put the phone down and turned to her computer. She noticed Phyllis looking at her with raised eyebrows.

"Yes?" Kyran asked as she crunched the numbers,

"Everyone's got their methods. No one here has yours," Phyllis chuckled.

"My method?" Kyran asked, peeking at her around the computer.

"Your cute little flirty voice," Phyllis laughed. "I take it he bought some extra paper from you at the end?"

"Well, yeah," Kyran smiled.

"It's like meeting someone for the first time, and charming them into asking for your number, but instead your making money off of them," Phyllis said.

"I guess. I mean, I used to have to go to the hospitals and sell equipment," Kyran explained. "So charm went a long way. Looks like it even works over the phone. I'm sorry, I don't think I ever got your name."

"Phyllis Vance," the woman said with a smile. "And this is Stanley," she pointed to the black man across from her.

"Phyllis and Stanley," Kyran repeated. "Andy, Phyllis, Stanley."

"You'll get it," Phyllis smiled.

Kyran leaned back on her chair and delved into another file just as the front door creaked open again. A rather intense man stepped into the room, a briefcase in hand. He stared around the room, and everyone seemed to clam up. He made eye contact with Kyran and walked over to her.

"I don't know you," he said pointedly.

"I'm Kyran Frantz. Jo brought me in after Andy got promoted," she said, trying to avoid his intense stare.

"Robert California," he said, extending a hand.

Kyran shook it, trying to avoid eye contact with him. He was incredibly intimidating.

"I'm making you nervous," he stated bluntly.

"You're very intuitive," she chuckled.

"I take pride in that," he said, still gripping her hand.

"I guess that's… something," she mumbled, staring intently at his forehead.

"It's far more than something."

"You're right," she nodded.

He finally released her hand and turned away, stepping into the conference room and closing the door behind him. Kyran stared at the spot where he had just stood, awestruck.

"What the hell?" she asked.

"Yeah, he does that," the salesman to her right chuckled.

"But… I mean, is there something _wrong _with him?" Kyran asked, looking over at the salesman.

"Oh, most likely," he nodded. "But he's brilliant. It's frightening sometimes."

"And… He's the company's CEO?" Kyran asked hesitatingly.

"He grows on you after a while," he shrugged. "I'm Jim, by the way."

"Hi," Kyran smiled, letting out the breath she'd been holding since Robert California had grasped her hand.

"This is my wife, Pam," he added, gesturing to the woman at the desk across from his.

"I'm sorry if everyone's freaking you out," Pam said apologetically. "You're like the new exhibit at the museum."

"Makes sense," Kyran shrugged.

As the day wore on, people grew bored with staring at Kyran and resumed their work—though she noticed that for such a successful branch they seemed to do very little of it. There was a lot of chit chat that went with the job. She got to know Phyllis better, and even Stanley piped in when she said she was a puzzle pro. She also quickly learned that she liked Jim and Pam, who were probably the most normal in the office. And Andy made it a point to poke his head out of his office to check up on everyone.

Kyran was just wrapping up a call with a law firm she'd found in one of the files when Andy appeared at her side. She looked up at him with a smile and held up her finger.

"Well, Mr. Fitz, I just hope you know how much your continued business with us means, and I'd just like you to know that I am here if you should _ever_ have any concerns, please don't hesitate to give me a call… Yes sir, same extension… Well that's very generous of you! I'll put that in right away… Thank you so much… You too, sir."

She hung up the phone and did a little fist pump as she turned to her computer. A few clicks, and she turned to Andy, giving him her full attention.

"Yes, Andy?" she asked.

"That's impressive," he said.

"What?"

"Fitz never bought more than the bare minimum from me. I always thought he was a bit of a jerk, too. You've been making sales like crazy today!" he laughed, leaning against her desk. "What's your secret?"

"Well, Phyllis explained my apparent 'method' to me today," she explained. "I act a little coy, 'Yes, is this Mr. Bernard?' Act like I'm genuinely excited to talk to them. I act like there is nothing I want to do more than sell them paper, and that their business is the absolute most important." A few people were listening now, watching her intently. "It's like when I meet a guy for the first time. I'm a little coy, a little shy. But, he's the most important thing there. Maybe I talk him up a little. 'Oh, Mr. Bernard, I didn't think they made them this handsome in li'l ole Scranton anymore,'" she articulated with a rub of his arm. "I make him think that he's doing me a service by buying me a drink—or, in this case, buying paper from me. And then, I leave him wanting more. He'll ask for my number at the bar, or he'll call me back when he runs out of paper if he's the client."

Andy's throat had closed up. He found that he couldn't form words. The way she'd looked at him when she ran her hand up his arm was a look he wasn't altogether familiar with. She was now chuckling and looking back at her computer.

"Yeah," he managed. "Yeah, that's grood."

_Grood?_

"Probably a good thing most of these ones are men," she said, brandishing the pile of folders. "The analogy doesn't work as well with women, but I've still managed to sell to them."

"Yeah," he repeated lamely.

Andy returned to his office feeling like an idiot. His meeting with Robert this morning had not gone entirely well—they'd discovered a list in Robert's notebook that he'd accidentally showed to him. None of them had any idea what it meant, but it couldn't be anything good. Now, he felt himself staring a little too long at the new girl and enjoying the way she touched his arm a little too much. This was dangerous terrain. He sat down at his desk and buried his head in his hands.

Around lunchtime, Robert emerged from the conference room and stared around at them all. Kyran looked nervously at Pam, who looked as if she might cry at any moment—worsened by the fact that she was pregnant.

"I'd like to invite the following people to join me for lunch," he announced. "Jim, Dwight, Angela, Darryl, Kevin, Toby, Phyllis, Oscar."

This left Pam, Erin, Stanley, Meredith, Creed, Ryan, Kelly, Gabe, Andy, and Kyran sitting awkwardly around the room, trying to ignore those following Robert out the door.

"Well," Andy said, trying to break the tension, "we should all be excited about our very own… Pizza party!"

He broke into a goofy dance, and Kyran laughed. She wasn't terribly torn up about not making the cut, as she'd just met Robert. To be honest, she didn't really like the guy all that much anyway.

"Why don't you go order the pizzas," Kyran suggested, "we'll all talk about them."

"Yeah, I mean, come on!" Meredith grumbled.

"If I'm here, then there's got to be a mistake," Ryan claimed.

Andy went into his office and came back out about five minutes later. Everyone was talking about the people who'd left—except Kyran, who was playing Mahjong. She was also absentmindedly twirling a strand of her blond hair, which Andy was having a hard time trying to ignore.

"Great group, pizza party!" he exclaimed.

"How is this a pizza party?" Kelly asked, now sitting at Jim's desk and going through his drawers.

"Well, why don't you ask me again when the five pizzas get here."

"No, that's just pizza," Kelly corrected. "You need at least one other element for it to be a party."

"Okay, you guys ever had margarita pizza?"

"What's that?" Stanley asked.

Kyran swore under her breath and restarted her Mahjong game.

"Fresh tomato, with a dollop of mozzarella cheese…" he explained.

"That's pizza," Stanley grumbled.

"That's regular pizza," Pam said.

"It's good, though," Kyran added, not looking away from her screen.

"Yes, thank you," Andy exclaimed.

"I don't care if it's good, it's not a party," Kelly griped.

"Come on, guys," Andy tried.

A short time later, the pizza guy showed up and left the pizzas on the counter. Andy peeked inside one of the boxes and grimaced.

"Well, they're interpretation of margarita pizza. Fans of the traditional classic pizza will be psyched," he said, turning to them eagerly.

Pam's phone vibrated, and she hastily picked it up.

"Oh, text from Jim," she cried. "'This is getting very weird, will explain later.'"

Everyone else's phones vibrated, and they all took them out.

"Text from Kevin," Pam said.

"'Suck it, losers,'" Meredith read.

"Ah, Robert California," Kyran shook her head.

They divvied out the pizza, Kyran restarting her game again.

"Okay, not to point out the glaringly obvious, but doesn't the fact that I'm in this group make anyone feel just a little bit better?" Ryan reiterated just before complaining that the pizza crust was sharp.

"I used to be young and cute and sorta funny and I could do those cute little cartoons," Pam said, tears in her eyes as she ate her pizza. "And everyone who came through here was like, 'Who's that receptionist? I like her.' Now I'm just a fat mom! Yeah, and you take one look at me and you're like, 'Oh, loser.'"

"Come here, Pam," Andy said, putting an arm around her shoulder. "Chins up, okay?" He snorted, and Kyran smiled a little. "Bad joke, sorry… Look around this room. Does this look like a group of losers? Seriously."

Pam started crying again, and Kyran bit her lip to keep from laughing. She couldn't help it. The whole situation was absolutely devastating to them. It's not like they were being fired. So Robert California didn't like them. Oh well.

At that moment, the door opened and Robert and the rest of the office came in laughing.

"Hey guys!" Kelly exclaimed, jumping up. "We had so much fun. We had margarita pizza, we all hung out and got to know each other better. How was your lunch?"

"It was excellent," a blond woman who Kyran didn't know replied.

"It was the best time," the man who shared the desks with Pam and Jim bragged. "And you know what? Now it's over, back to work, everyone… You too Andy."

Kyran noticed a definite attitude shift in the office. She made three more calls that afternoon, two of which were interrupted by Dwight very noisily laughing and drowning out her voice. Still, she managed to sell paper to each one of them. But it wasn't just that. Most of the people who'd gone to lunch with Robert were acting like they ran the office, shooting squirt guns at other people and slacking on their work. Andy looked around the office, rather unsettled. He seemed to be debating something. While on the phone with her third client, Kyran saw him wander into the conference room and ask Robert to come out with him. She made the sale and entered it into the computer before giving them her full attention.

"Just wanted to clarify something. Some people here are under the misconception that some people may be considered, let's say, top tier, and others would be second tier," he stumbled through his words.

"I never said that," Robert shook his head. "I said winners and losers. Is that what you're talking about?"

"Oh, that might… That might actually be… What I'm thinking of. Can you clarify that?"

"Let me tell you some things I find productive: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, honesty. I'll tell you some things I find unproductive: constantly worrying about where you stand based on inscrutable social clues and then inevitably reframing it all in a reassuring way so that you can get to sleep at night. No, I do not believe in that at all. If I invited you to lunch, I think you're a winner. If I didn't, I don't. But I just met you all. Life is long, opinions change. Winners, prove me right. Losers, prove me wrong."

With that, Robert retreated back into the conference room and shut the door. Kyran could honestly say that he agreed with him—conceited though he may be. It was up to them to make him believe that they were hard workers.

"Well, I guess that's that," Phyllis said very finally.

"No… No…" Andy said, looking very unsettled.

He turned and stared at the door, debating with himself.

"Andy, don't go in there," the receptionist advised.

"No, I'm going in there."

He opened the door and stepped inside.

"I know that every time I talk to you that things just seem to get worse, but you don't know these people, and I do, and if I let you work with faulty information, well then I'm not doing my job as regional manager," he asserted, taking a seat across from Robert. "So, please take this pen and change your list."

"I'm not gonna change my list, Andy, and I don't use a ballpoint pen," Robert stated.

"Well, then I will make a new list for you."

He grabbed a notebook and divided the page in half. Kyran had a perfect view of the action from her desk, and a few people were crowding around to watch.

"Stanley. You may think he's a lazy grump, but did you know that he has the most consistently high sales numbers of anyone in this office? And you may think he's hard to love, but did you know that he's in, not one, but two long-term romantic relationships?"

"I did not know about the sales figures," Robert nodded.

"Meredith Palmer. Supplier relations, the word 'no' not even in her vocabulary. And just to show you that I'm being fair, you had Gabe in the loser column. I think that is astute. Good call."

Everyone around her nodded, and Kyran laughed.

"Pam. Easily the most creative and kind person I have ever worked with. Erin Hannon. The receptionist. A winner if there ever was one. Kyran Frantz, not even on a list yet. I can already tell she belongs in the winner column. She's made a sale during every call today, and I can't wait to get to know her."

Kyran smiled and turned back to her computer. She couldn't have cared less about what Robert California thought of her yet, but it felt good to be in Andy's winner group.

When he finally came back out of the conference room, he went immediately back into his own office. When they saw him again, it was the end of the day, and they were all packing up.

"Hey guys," he said, stepping out of his office. "So, Columbus Day, we got that half-day on Friday."

"We get that every year," Stanley said as he gathered up his things.

"Well, you got it this year too," he shrugged.

Stanley nodded and smiled as he walked past, and as all the others passed him, they said goodnight as well. Kyran was one of the last to leave, as she had a considerable amount to input into the computer. Finally, she powered it down and grabbed her bag from under her desk. Andy was still sitting in his office, but they were the last two there.

"You headed home soon, boss man?" she asked, poking her head inside his room.

"Are you the last one?" he asked.

"I am."

"Then I'm headed home now," he replied, shutting down his computer and grabbing his bag. "Can I walk the li'l lady to her vehicle?" he asked with a cockney accent.

"That would be smashing," she replied in a British accent of her own.

As they waited for the elevator, Andy started humming a song absentmindedly. Kyran smiled.

"I love Dave Matthews Band," she commented.

"Really?"

"Yeah, it was, like, the music of my generation," she laughed. "We'd crank up them and MJ like it was nobody's business. Once we got stopped for disorderly conduct because the music was too loud."

"No way!"

"Yeah, but that's Freeland for you, though. There were like 3000 people in my town growing up. Where are you from?"

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. They stepped inside and the doors closed.

"Well, I grew up in Simsbury, Connecticut. Went to school at Cornell."

"Oh, rivals. I went to Penn."

"That's awesome! Did you like it?"

"Yeah, I loved it. Definitely a party school, I learned that freshman year."

"Yeah, Cornell was kinda the same. You never really know it's gonna be that way until you get there," he laughed.

The elevator door opened and they stepped out onto the first floor. They talked a little about college as they headed outside, and Kyran laughed when he told her about some of his nicknames in college.

"What the hell kinda name is Boner Champ?" she asked.

"You know, I think it might be Latin," he teased.

"Well, this is me," she said, stopping behind her Honda Civic.

"Oh, yeah," he said, forgetting for a minute that they weren't heading in the same direction.

"Well, I can honestly say that I enjoyed my first day of work," she said, digging in her purse for her keys.

"That's good, that's what we're going for," Andy said.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Andy," she said as she unlocked her door and got in her car.

It wasn't until she shut the door that Andy realized he'd walked a few spaces past his car to talk to her. He returned to his Prius and waved to her as she pulled away. He couldn't help but think that he was going to enjoy having her around. As she pulled away, Kyran found herself thinking about how cute he was before banishing that thought from her head and turning on the radio.


	2. Chapter 2

Kyran had been at Dunder Mifflin for a few weeks now, and she was starting to feel comfortable. She had been a natural at paper sales and didn't have to try that hard. She learned that the employees of Dunder Mifflin spent a majority of their time not doing work. Kyran had taken to Solitaire, StumbleUpon, Sporcle, and her usual Mahjong games.

She was also starting to figure people out. Andy was quickly becoming her newest friend in Scranton, despite being her boss. Jim and Pam were the normal, laid back ones. Stanley was perpetually cranky, but funny. Phyllis was motherly, but funny. Meredith was gross, but funny. Creed and Dwight were just flat out creepy. The others didn't stand out a whole lot to her, but they were all relatively nice.

It was a Tuesday morning when Dwight called them all into a meeting. They were supposed to be selling what was called a Pyramid. It was essentially an iPad in triangular form. Andy came in asking for opinions of ties, ignoring their protests about the Pyramid.

"I like the pink one," Kyran said from her seat in the back.

"Thanks, K-cat, I like the pink one too," he said.

"K-cat?" she asked incredulously.

"Well, K-dawg was already taken," he said, gesturing to Kevin.

They all headed back to their desks and got to work, and just in time too. In strolled Robert, fashionably late as always. Andy leaped from his desk to greet him.

"Hi, dad," he said with a wide grin, which fell when he realized his mistake. "Uhhhh, oh boy..."

"Hi Andy," Robert said, ignoring his stumble. "Excellent tie."

As Erin asked Robert if he wanted something to drink, Andy turned to Kyran. He gave her thumbs up, and she winked. He and Robert disappeared into his office and closed the door behind them.

"I don't care how often he's in here, I still don't think I'm used to him yet," Erin said, shivering a little.

"Jim, you were right," Kyran said, leaning back in her chair. "He did grow on me in a weird way."

She Stumbled for a while, found a few funny things, before Robert and Andy came out of his office. She closed the window and brought up an order form that she had absolutely no intention of filling out. He stared around at them all as he usually did before speaking.

"If the office superstore was supposed to put us little suppliers out of business, why are we still here?"

Kevin raised his hand, and Robert gestured to him.

"This is where we go," he replied simply.

"Then you'd go someplace else. That's not it, that's not the answer. Take a look at where you are, where you once worked in a dying industry. You now work at its birth. Those superstores are terrified of us. Anybody know why? Let me tell you how I buy something. I know what I want, I go on the internet and get it for the best price. Or I don't know what I want, and I go to a small store that can help me. The era of personal service is back. You are back. You'll find that customers will pay our higher prices and then they will thank us, and then we will say to them, 'You are welcome.'"

Everyone applauded, but Kyran found herself a bit confused as she did so. She never really understood him. Maybe that was his draw.

"Andrew, I chose you for a reason," he said, turning to Andy. "Show me the best numbers this place has ever seen. Last quarter we saw 4% growth. Double it."

And, with that, he left. Andy stared after him nervously. Then he went up to Jim and very intrusively sat down on his desk. Kyran bit back a laugh.

"'Sup, guys?" he said in his Andy way. "Just thought we'd have a little rap session, talk about business, see how things were going."

An awkward silence followed.

"Why don't you start," Jim suggested.

"If no one else wants to. I was just thinking about Robert. Man, what a boss. Just throws down goals. Anyway, how's the sales doubling project going?"

"Yeah, how are we supposed to do that? We can't just press a magic button," Phyllis grumbled.

"Of course not, there's no magic button," Andy chuckled. "You have to summon that."

"If we could just double our sales, we already would have," Stanley pointed out. "You're not making any sense."

"You know what, we need to get our heads out of the box," Andy said. "If we did have something, what would it look like?"

"New leads, new territory to look into, maybe an in with a big company that we could get our foot in the door," he suggested.

Andy jumped down from Jim's desk and retreated into his office. Kyran returned to her Stumbling for now. Andy went to Dwight in the breakroom, and though Kyran couldn't hear them, she knew he was asking for his advice. He had to be desperate.

She certainly did have an in with a big company. She'd sold equipment to Mercy Hospital for years, and she was fairly certain that they were always looking for better prices in the paper market. But first she needed to help Andy out. He wasn't going to get everybody working on his own. He needed to get everyone motivated. He needed something on the table.

Once he was back in his office, Kyran opened up her e-mail and composed an instant message to Andy: **_We need an Incentive._**

She sent it and heard the responsive _bing_ from his computer. A few seconds passed, then she heard typing. His response appeared on her computer.

Andy: **_What kind of incentive?_**

Kyran: **_I dunno, something interesting._**

Andy: **_Well, what's interesting to you?_**

Kyran: **_I can't give you all the answers, Andy. You're the boss._**

Andy: **_Why am I the boss?_**

Kyran:**_ Just find something to get us excited. Make us want to work._**

She turned around just in time to see Andy look up with wide eyes. He was worried, but she'd given him a start.

After lunch, he called them all in for a meeting. He looked excited. Kyran took a seat near the front, curious to see what he'd come up with.

"What's under the blanket?" Meredith asked, indicating the blanket spread over the table in the front of the room.

Andy dramatically revealed the contents underneath—a plethora of stuffed animals and children's products, as well as what Kyran assumed was a vibrator.

"We don't get it," Oscar said.

"Oh, Andy," Kyran shook her head.

"These are incentives. It's how we're gonna double growth," he explained. "Now, you're probably all asking yourselves, 'Well, how does this work?'"

"Seems like a basic rewards system, where you give us points and then we redeem those points for prizes," Pam interrupted.

"You're exactly right, and you get a point!" Andy exclaimed.

"Uh, is that a vibrator?" Ryan asked.

"20 points," Andy said.

"I'm not sure he was asking that," Kyran mumbled.

"How does one get a point?" Meredith asked.

"I've outlined the exact parameters in an e-mail, so check your spam folders. But, basically, you do your job better, you get points."

He went into detail about the cost of some of the prizes, and Jim asked what would happen if they made it to 500 points.

"That's a crazy amount of points," Andy scoffed.

"But, what if?" Jim asked.

"Well, what do you want?"

"I don't know, for such a crazy number, I'd like something pretty crazy," Jim said.

"Alright, for 500 points, I will wear a dress to work," Andy suggested.

"That's pretty good," Jim laughed. "What about for 1000 points?"

"I'll run naked through the parking lot with a donut on my ding dong."

Everyone laughed, and Kyran shook her head.

"Yeah, you like that?" Andy asked, getting excited now. "Alright, for 5000 points, I will let you tattoo whatever you want on the stern of the old S.S. Bernard."

"Oh no," Kyran mumbled, already seeing where Jim was going with this.

"And you are totally serious?" he asked.

"Swear to god, hope to die," Andy vowed. "Now let's get to work."

"Wait, but you did say we could pool our points, right? In that case, let's get to work guys."

Everyone rushed off to their desks except Kyran, who remained in her seat. Andy watched them all go with a look of fear. He swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat.

"What have I done?" he asked, watching them all get to work.

"Signed your life away in blood?" Kyran suggested.

"Are they serious?" he asked, looking nervously at her.

"Andy, do they look serious?" she asked, standing up and crossing her arms over her chest. "When I said incentives, I meant like an extra sick day or something, not vibrators and tattoos on your ass."

"What do I do?" he asked, looking to her for help.

"Hope and pray that they lose interest," she shrugged.

But lose interest they did not. In fact, this was the busiest Dunder Mifflin had ever been. Phones were ringing or being dialed constantly. Stanley was more energetic than anyone had ever seen him. Everyone was doing their part except for Kyran, who felt bad for Andy. He was legitimately worried. She spent more time playing Mahjong and doing quizzes on Sporcle than usual. She was in the middle of a James Franco quiz when Andy rolled his chair over to her desk.

"Hey, K-cat," he said nervously.

"I really don't know how to help you feel better about this," she admitted, pausing the quiz. "You made a deal, and they're taking it seriously."

"Why aren't you?" he asked, noticing her quiz. "Have you made a single sale today?"

"No," she replied. "Is this complaining I hear? I have a sale lined up that could earn me easily at least 300 points. Should I tempt the fates?"

"Sweet mother of god," he groaned, dropping his head onto her desk.

"Relax, I'm saving it for another day," she laughed.

"Why?" he asked, looking up at her.

"I don't know," she said, staring intently at her computer screen.

"Well, thanks I guess," he sighed.

He retreated back into the safety of his office, watching them all sell from afar. By the end of the day, they reached 5000 points even without Kyran's help. They picked out a tattoo of a baby that would be coming would of his butt. Andy looked ready burst into tears.

"Should we take separate cars?" Pam asked, gathering up her stuff.

Kyran looked into Andy's office to see him staring at his computer, which she had seen him turn off only moments before. She sighed.

"I'll drive him, he looks like hell," she gestured to Andy.

"Yeah, we'll meet you there," Pam said, following Jim out the door.

Once again, Kyran and Andy were the last ones in the office. She opened his door and leaned against the doorframe. He looked up at her with a petrified expression.

"Is it plausible for me to flee the country at this point?" he asked.

"They're out for blood, they'll probably find you," Kyran shrugged.

With resignation, Andy gathered up his things and followed her out of the office. Kyran drove him down to the tattoo parlor. He was biting his nails for the entire 10 minute drive, not speaking. He followed them all in dutifully, true to his word.

"We were hoping you could do something like this," Pam said, handing the tattoo guy the drawing.

"…Yeah, no problem," the guy said tentatively.

"We should think about this," Andy said, turning to them all for help. "Does anyone have any better ideas?"

"I like what we have," Stanly smirked.

"I just need a second outside," he said.

Jim followed him outside, and Kyran snuck out behind him, standing near the door. Andy was so nervous he didn't see her.

"You getting psyched up?" Jim asked.

"Yeah," he choked.

"Andy, nobody really expects you to go through with this," Jim said.

"Tunes, what am I doing here?" he asked. "Why did Robert pick me? Professionally I don't know what I'm doing."

"I mean, do you like it?" Jim asked. "You having fun? I'll tell you this, everyone else is having a lot of fun, and you did that."

"My ass is only so big, I can't do this everyday," he said barely loud enough for Kyran to hear.

"But I think it's big enough to buy you some time until your next great idea," Jim suggested. "Which, by the way, I can't wait for."

"It wasn't really my idea. Kyran told me to try incentives."

"Yeah, but she didn't tell you to let us tattoo whatever the hell we want on you, did she?" Jim asked.

"No, that was all me," Andy nodded.

Kyran smiled at Jim, who looked up at her for a minute. She stepped back inside and went to Pam.

"Pam, is there _any_ way in the world we could do something a little nicer?" Kyran asked.

"We already did."

She unraveled the paper and showed Kyran the new design. It brought a smile to her face. Andy and Jim burst back into the tattoo parlor and Andy was quick to undress.

"Let's ink my stink!" he exclaimed.

Suddenly, his pants were down, and he flopped himself onto the table. Kyran looked away before she could see anything.

"Do your worst," he challenged.

"Uh, you can keep your pants on, actually," the tattoo guy said. "Just drop 'em down a little."

"They're already off, my good sir," Andy replied.

"I really prefer they not be down," tattoo guy pleaded.

"Well, I think down's better, sweating pretty heavily down there," he admitted.

"Nice," Kyran laughed.

Pam showed the tattoo guy their new drawing and, though he looked confused with the change, he complied. He took a cotton swab and sterilized the area—which caused Andy to shout in pain already. Kyran sat down on the chair across from him, and when the needle whirred to life a flash of fear crossed his eye. But when he looked at Kyran, looking so expectant, he managed to grit his teeth. When the needle pressed down, he shouted in pain. Kyran reached out and gripped his hand, which he gratefully took. He shouted the entire time, and Kyran looked a bit horrified. When the guy was finally done, he covered it up and let Andy pull his pants back up.

"Are you okay?" Kyran asked him as he paid.

"We'll see," he whispered.

They all traipsed outside, and Andy went up to Kyran's car and looked at his tattoo in the mirror—which did in fact require him to lower his pants again. He looked at them all excitedly.

"It's a Nard Dog!" he exclaimed. "That's my nickety-name! I love it!"

Everyone cheered, even Kyran, who looked very worried for his well-being. After a few more rounds of cheering and goodbyes, she loaded Andy into her car for the ride back to Dunder Mifflin where his car was waiting.

"So, _are_ you okay?" she asked again as they drove away.

"That hurt so fucking much," he groaned, leaning his head against the headrest.

"I know, they're terrible."

"You have one?" he asked, looking at her with an awed expression.

"As a matter of fact, I do," she winked.

"Can I see it?" he asked.

"Not accessible," she said simply.

"Just, like, in the car? Or, like, it's not in a place you can show me?" he asked, eyeing her warily.

"Probably both, though I've been told I'm pretty flexible," she winked.

Andy felt the lump in his throat again.

"Cool," he managed.

"Does it hurt to sit on it?" Kyran asked as they neared the office.

"Oh, not really," he shrugged.

"I heard what you said to Jim," she noted as they pulled into the parking lot.

"What I… said? About you giving me the idea?"

"Well, that. But also about why Robert picked you as manager," she said, pulling up next to Andy's Prius, throwing her car into Park, and turning to face him. "I think he knew that you'd be able to rally us all together. Everyone worked harder than they had in the weeks that I've been here."

"Yeah, they've never worked that hard before in all the _years_ I've been here," he added.

"You did that, Andy. Maybe you don't really know how to manage a branch yet, but you'll learn. It'll come to you."

She reached out and laid a hand on his arm. He felt that lump again as her thumb moved against his bicep comfortingly. Her words made him feel better. He looked up at her and gave her an almost sheepish half-smile.

"Thanks, Kyran," he said.

"Sure thing, boss man," she winked.

He grabbed his bag and stepped out of her car, closing the door behind him. He watched her drive away in his rearview mirror, and when she'd rounded the corner he banged his head against the steering wheel. These were dangerous thoughts to be having about her after having known her for only a few weeks. Still, he couldn't help but wonder if she was feeling them too.


	3. Chapter 3

Kyran was sitting at her desk, biting the end of her pen and jiggling her foot. She was reading through one of her client folders intently.

"You're being very distracting," she heard Dwight say.

She looked up to see him looking over his shoulder at her.

"Am I being loud?" she asked.

"No."

"Then please, do tell me, just how I'm being distracting," she said.

"I can see you moving in my computer screen," he explained.

"Oh, come on," she groaned. "That's insane."

"I only have a short time to get this in, and watching you do that is distracting," he explained.

Kyran snorted and covered her mouth with her hand. Dwight narrowed his eyes at her.

"What is so funny about this?" he asked irately.

"Well, that's what she said," Kyran muttered, looking back down at her files.

When she looked up again, she saw Jim, Pam, and Dwight all staring at her.

"What?" she asked exasperatedly.

"It's… It's nothing," Jim muttered, smiling over at Pam.

"Dwight, I thought you only had twenty minutes," she snapped.

"Well, I'll need more time to make it happen now," he turned back around.

"That's what she said," Kyran laughed.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe the warehouse guys won the lottery," Andy said, leaning against his doorframe.<p>

"What's that come to? Like, what did they each win?" Pam asked.

"Oh man, that's gotta come to, like, $100,000," Jim marveled.

"Before taxes," Dwight added.

"It's still a lot of money," Phyllis said.

"What really interests me is the group dynamic of six people winning the lottery. This will not end well, right?" Oscar asked.

"We're looking at at least one suicide and one weird sex thing," Meredisth said.

"Awesome," Kyran mumbled.

"I don't even know what I'd do with all that money," Jim said.

"I know what you'd do with all that money," Dwight stated. "'Hey Pam, let's buy expensive bath robes and hug.'"

"You know, I'd probably buy a big piece of land in Maine, build a house, work in town. Somewhere I could bike to or kayak to. I'd either bike to my job at the kayak shop, or I would kayak to my job at the bike shop," Jim mused.

"And then on the weekends, would you hacky sack back to reality and spend time with your wife and kids?" Pam teased.

"Woah, saucy, I thought you liked Maine," Jim said.

"I think we should get a townhouse in Soho," Pam mused.

"Soho is mostly lofts, but okay," Ryan interjected.

"And then," Pam continued, "every morning, I'd walk out onto my terrace and I would breathe in the inspiration of the city, you know? And just gather ideas for my painting. And then my handsome husband—"

"—which, ideally, would be me," Jim cut in.

"—would bring me a flavored coffee."

"Stop, I'm a barista in your fantasy?" Jim asked.

"Well, in your fantasy, we're Stephen King characters," Pam countered.

"Get a divorce, get a divorce," Meredith chanted.

"Are you kidding me?" Andy asked, coming back into the room. "Guys, if I have to ask you to get back to work one more time, I'm gonna change my tone… To down here, like Mr. T, and this will get seriously annoying… I feel sympathy for the jerks that have to listen to this all day," he said in a lower voice. "Darryl, how are we doing on the new warehouse guys?"

"I don't know," Darryl shrugged.

"W-well, I… D-do you have new guys?" Andy stuttered.

"No."

"Are they on their way over?"

"I haven't hired anyone," he admitted.

"What? No warehouse guys?" Phyllis looked back at him. "I have an important order that has to go out by five. I e-mailed you about it."

"I'm not checking e-mail until lunch," Darryl replied. "Four-hour work week."

"This is kinda time sensitive," Andy urged.

"I got it, I'm doin' it," Darryl snapped, returning to his office.

"Andy, this is a seriously big order, I can't lose this client," Phyllis said.

"Alright, well until we have a new crew, let's get some volunteers for warehouse duty," Andy said.

Erin raised her hand and Andy volunteered her, Jim, Dwight, and Kevin. They left for the warehouse, leaving a semi-productive office behind them. Pam took over at reception, and Kyran made a few calls before knocking on Andy's door.

"What can I do ya for?" he asked.

"I just need a signature on these," she said, handing him a few forms.

"Sure thing."

"What would you do if you won the lottery?" she asked, watching him sign them.

"I'd put a lot of it away for my—uh, for something," he said, catching himself.

"Tell me what it is, Andy!" Kyran laughed.

"No, everyone just makes fun of me," he said bashfully.

"I won't, Andy, I promise," she vowed.

"…I want to save it for my dream wedding," he admitted quietly. "It would be nice to not have to count on my parents to pay for it."

"That's not anything to make fun of," she said. "Very admirable, actually."

"Really?" he asked with a smile.

"Really," she nodded.

"What would you do if you won?" he asked, flipping to the last page.

"I'd put my mom and little brother up in a nice house, not the tiny place they've been in since I was 15. Maybe buy a house for myself too. And I'd look into law school," she said.

"Wow," Andy said, handing her back the forms. "That's… far more admirable than mine."

"Not necessarily," she shook her head.

"Law school, huh?" he asked.

"Yeah… I always thought I wanted to be a lawyer, but I couldn't afford it right out of college, so I took a job at PanTech and never really considered it an option," she shrugged. "Andy, what do you think Darryl would have done if he would've won?" she asked.

"Uh, well, I'm not sure," he said, thinking about it.

"You should check on him, Andy," she urged. "Something's up."

"Really? Did he tell you something?" Andy asked quieter now.

"No, no. I just… He's off his game a little," she shrugged.

"Oh, well, I can do that. Thanks."

"Sure," she nodded, returning to her desk.

A few minutes later, Andy passed her desk and went into Darryl's office. She didn't really hear their conversation, try though she did, until she went over to the water cooler to fill up her water bottle.

"Did you go out celebrating with the guys last night?" Andy asked.

"The guys did invite me out to celebrate, but I decided just to stay home, eat a bunch of tacos in my basement," Darryl said.

"You do have a fantastic basement."

"I did," Darryl corrected. "I did have a fantastic basement. Now it smells like tacos. You can't air out a basement, and taco air is heavy. It settles at the lowest point."

"Oh lord," Kyran mumbled, taking it back to her desk.

Andy came back through and grimaced at her. She looked back into his office to see Darryl looking blankly at the applications. He wasn't reading them at all. Kyran sighed and followed Andy into his office, closing the door behind her.

"You were right," Andy conceded, sitting down behind his desk.

"Of course I was," she nodded. "What did he say?"

"He told me he thought he was fat."

"Oh no," Kyran shook her head.

"Why, wait, what does that mean?" Andy asked, looking very concerned. "I mean, after that he told me how his basement smells like tacos."

"Yeah, I heard that," she nodded.

"And then I tried to make him go through the applications for new warehouse guys, but he just wouldn't."

"Didn't he used to work in the warehouse?" she asked.

"Well, yeah," Andy nodded.

"Okay. Maybe he's upset he didn't win the lottery with his buddies. He got promoted just in time to lose an opportunity like that," Kyran suggested.

"Yeah, maybe."

"I mean, he'll get over it," Kyran shrugged. "Maybe just help him out a little. Get the ball rolling with new warehouse guys."

"Yeah, I can do that."

"I'm gonna get back to work," she said.

"Yeah, thanks Kyran," he said, looking up at her with that half smile.

"Anytime, boss man," she winked.

She plopped back down on her desk and noticed Phyllis watching her.

"What was that about?" she asked.

"What?" Kyran asked.

"I see what's going on," Phyllis smiled.

"I don't understand what you mean," Kyran said.

"You can tell me if you like Andy, I won't tell anyone," she whispered.

"Oh my god," Kyran mumbled, hiding herself behind her computer.

She tried to hide it, but the blush staining her cheeks was betraying her. Like Andy? He was her boss, and that was weird. Plus, he was just goofy, like her friends from high school and college. She didn't _like_ him… Did she? The more she thought about it, the more it seemed like she at least acted like she did. Their interactions in the office were more than just friendly. She pretended to be reading an article from the New York Times very in-depthly, but she was distracted when an instant message popped up on her screen.

Andy: **_What do I say to him? I don't want it to seem like I'm taking over his job._**

She thought for a minute before responding: **_He's not going to want to talk about it. He's upset. Just go in there and grab the applications, give everyone a call and ask them to come in and meet. See where it goes from there._**

A couple minutes went by, and the she heard Andy's door open and he passed by her desk and went into Darryl's office, closing the door behind him. She smiled and closed out the chat, returning to her long-abandoned Solitaire game.

She made a few more calls, then took her lunch into the break room. Phyllis was already in there, and Creed was in the corner reading the paper.

"Hey, I'm sorry if what I said earlier freaked you out," Phyllis said as Kyran took a seat at the table with her.

"Oh, no, it's fine," Kyran waved her off.

"But, seriously, I can tell," she added.

"Not cool, Phyllis," she said, taking a bite of her taco salad.

"He likes you too," she added.

"How could you possibly know that?" Kyran asked.

"Well, he used to like Erin, the receptionist. He would go up to her desk and flirt with her. They dated for a while, but nothing really came of it. Now he bugs you around your desk, he asks you for advice, and I bet you he comes in here to eat before we leave," she pointed out.

"Who are you guys talking about?" Creed asked.

"James," Phyllis replied.

"Oh yeah, good kid," he nodded, flipping to the next page.

Kyran looked at Phyllis with raised eyebrows, and she smiled back. Meredith and Stanley joined them, and as Phyllis predicted, so did Andy. He pulled up a chair next to Kyran.

"Told you," Phyllis muttered.

"Coincidence," Kyran said, though she blushed a bit.

"Andy are we getting anywhere on the warehouse guys?" Phyllis asked him.

"They're coming in right after lunch, Darryl and I are gonna meet with them," he said, biting into his apple.

"Have you checked on Jim and the others lately?" Kyran asked.

"Uh… Should I have?" Andy asked.

"It might be a good idea," she shrugged.

"Well, I have to go meet with them all right after this…"

"Fine, I'll do it," she sighed.

"Thanks," he smiled, unwrapping his sandwich.

Kyran caught Phyllis's eye and had to look away. Alright, maybe she did like Andy a little. That didn't really mean anything, did it? She finished her lunch and went down to the warehouse. Kevin and Erin were watching Jim and Dwight argue over how to best load paper onto the truck, which had only a few boxes already on it. They didn't see her, and she deemed it best. She returned to the office in silence in time to see Andy close the door of the conference room. A few people were sitting inside, staring intently at him and Darryl.

"How are they doing?" Phyllis asked as Kyran took her seat.

"Oh, uh, fine," he shrugged.

It was only a few minutes later that the door of the conference room opened again and the warehouse candidates came shuffling out. Andy closed the door behind them, leaving himself and Darryl in the room. Kyran sighed. Darryl would not make this easy. She was just about to pick up her phone and make a call when one of the warehouse guys leaned against her desk.

"Hey," he said.

"Uh, hello," she replied.

"You look too pretty to be working here," he said.

"…What does that even mean?" Kyran asked.

"Like, you should be a model."

"That's really nice, but I have to get back to work," she said pointedly.

"How about I get your number, take you out sometime?" he asked.

"How about not," she shooed him away.

She irritably picked up her phone, but entirely forgot why she'd picked it up in the first place. She set it back down and flipped through the file on her desk.

"I think he was just trying to ask you out," Phyllis commented.

"Yeah, I got that," Kyran muttered. "He looked like he was about 16."

"You want someone older, then?" Phyllis asked with a wink.

"Oh god," Kyran muttered, dropping the file onto her desk.

"I think there's someone _else_ you'd rather have asking you out, though."

"Phyllis, if I admit that I like him, can we drop this?" she hissed.

"Absolutely."

"Alright, maybe I like him a little bit. There. End of story."

Phyllis smirked in a very satisfied way and returned to her computer. Stanley had looked up from his Sudoku to raise an eyebrow at them. Kyran, who was a brilliant red, buried her face in a file. She heard Andy and Darryl resuming their meeting, though she couldn't really hear what they were saying. She was calling her client when the door burst open and Darryl stomped out, returning to his office and shutting the door behind him. Kyran looked back to see Andy looking at her with a shocked expression. It wasn't until the third "Hello?" on the other end that Kyran realized her client had picked up the phone.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, sir," she said, turning back around.

The door to the conference room clicked shut during Kyran's conversation. When she hung up, she saw Andy chatting with the interviewees. It looked to be going fine. She was putting the order in the computer when her phone buzzed. It was a text from Andy. It read: **_Help!_** She turned around to see him looking at her through the window.

**_What happened?_** she asked back.

But before he could respond, the door opened again and the interviewees left one by one. Andy didn't even try calling them back. He sat at the front of the room defeated. When the last one had left, Andy went into the break room, where Darryl had wandered off to. He was only in there for a minute before going back into his office and sitting down behind his computer.

A message popped up on her screen from Andy: **_Darryl says he wants me to fire him._**

Kyran heaved a sigh and went into his office, closing the door behind her once more.

"What do you mean he wants you to fire him?" she asked, taking the seat across from him.

"I told him that I can't do these interviews without him, he needs to help me. He said he doesn't want to be here anymore and that I should fire him" Andy sighed.

"He's upset, Andy," Kyran explained, running a hand through her hair. "It's not an excuse to not do his job, but that's why he's acting like this. He feels like he's stuck at this job because all of his warehouse friends won the lottery."

"But what do I do?" he asked, resting his elbows on the desk.

"You hire some warehouse guys and wait this out," she said.

"Okay… Will you help me?"

"Yeah," she nodded. She'd only made a few calls today, but she'd been uncharacteristically productive all week, so this was a called-for break.

"Do you know anyone who could work in the warehouse?" he asked.

"You should go ask them," Kyran said, pointing out at the office.

"Good idea."

So, Andy and Kyran spent the rest of the afternoon calling up potential hires. While Andy was out consulting everyone else, Kyran pulled out her phone and made a call.

"Hello?" the voice on the other end asked.

"Hey, Jed," Kyran said.

"Kyran! What's up?"

"Not much. Got a new job at a paper company in Scranton," she said.

"Anyone looking to hire?" he asked.

"That's actually why I called you. We're hiring in the warehouse right now, and we're desperate. We're having an interview session this afternoon at three. I know it's short notice, but do you think you can make it?" she asked.

"Absolutely. I'll be there," he said.

"Great," she laughed. "I'll text you the address. Could you just get here a little early so I could have you fill out an application?"

"For sure. Thanks, Kyran."

"Anytime, man."

She hung up and texted him the address as Andy came back in, clutching a sheet of paper.

"Did you get a few people?" she asked, looking up from her phone.

"Yeah, three," he said, sitting back down.

"Four. I called up a friend from high school who needs a job," she said, sending the text and putting her phone down.

"Great," he said.

He called up two of the names while Kyran called one, and they all were able to come down for a three o'clock interview.

"I just… I don't know what to do about this," Andy admitted when the interviews had been set up. "I'm not gonna fire him."

"That's not the answer," she agreed.

"So what do I do?" he asked.

"Andy, I really don't know what to tell you. He's not happy, but he certainly doesn't want to lose this cake job," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Andy felt the lump in his throat again. She had very much accentuated her cleavage when she crossed her arms, and it was quite distracting.

"Y-yeah, right," he stammered, closing his eyes and trying to will the image of her alluring chest out of his mind.

"So, do you need anything else?" she asked.

He opened his eyes and saw her stand up. He didn't really want her to go.

"No, that's fine, thanks for your help," he said reluctantly.

"Do you want me to come in during the interview?" she asked.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Yeah, that might actually be better. We can double team this."

With a quick smile, she closed his door and returned to her desk. Phyllis gave her a very knowing look, and Kyran narrowed her eyes at her.

At 2:30, the door creaked open, and Kyran turned to see Jed enter hesitantly. She jumped up and ran to go give him a hug.

"Hey, man," she said, pulling back.

"Hey, thanks again for this," he said.

"Don't make me look bad," she threatened teasingly, poking his chest.

She led him over to the conference room and gave him an application.

"My boss is gonna be giving the interview, but I'll be in there too," she said, taking a seat next to him.

"How've you been?" he asked, starting to fill out the application.

"Good, I like this job, I like the people I work with. I like being closer to my mom, too, just in case something happens."

"How's she doing?" he asked.

"She's better now, but it could still be bad. I just worry about Noah a lot," she said.

"He's a good kid," Jed agreed.

The other three people showed up and sat down, looking at Kyran expectantly. She sat down at the front of the room, their applications in hand, waiting for Andy, who came in right at three. She handed him the four applications and he flipped through them.

"Well, guys, welcome to Dunder Mifflin. My name's Andy Bernard, I'm the manager of the branch. And Kyran here is gonna be sitting in on this interview. Feel free to jump in wherever," he turned to her quickly. "Alright, um… Let's see here… Jed," he pointed to Kyran's friend on the left. "

"Yes sir," he said.

"Went to school up in Vermont. Oh, you actually do have warehouse experience too," Andy read, sounding pleased.

"Yeah, I worked for a company that made springs back home for a while, stocking and stuff," he nodded.

"Very cool. And… Gideon, you are… A PhD candidate studying America's diminishing blue collar workforce?" he asked.

"North America," he corrected. "And diminishing is a little reductive, but sure, that's the headline version."

"…Great," Andy nodded. "Well, it'll bring a fresh new perspective to the warehouse."

"FYI," he added, "Wednesday through Friday, I have a pretty full teaching schedule."

"Cool, we'll figure that out," Andy said.

"Also, FYI," the guy sitting to the right of Gideon added, "uh, I don't technically have a hearing problem, but sometimes, when there's a lot of noises occurring at the same time, I'll hear 'em as one big jumble. Uh, again, it's not that I can't hear, because that's false. I can. Um, I just can't distinguish between everything that I'm hearing."

Kyran buried her face in her hand, trying to decide between laughing and cringing. Andy, however, remained cool.

"Got it," he replied. "Duly noted. You," he pointed to the last guy. "Coolest tank top I have ever seen. Where did you get that?"

"Made it," he said simply.

"So cool," Andy nodded. "What a cross section we have here. That's what I love about interviewing, I get to meet all these people that I wouldn't ordinarily meet or know or even talk to! Kyran, you have anything to add here?" he asked, turning to her.

"Nope, sounds good to me," she nodded.

"Great. Well, I think I can safely say you're all hired. I'll let Darryl know I picked out some guys. Anyone want some coffee? We have a coffee shop downstairs, we can meet up with Darryl there if you want," he suggested.

"Why don't you go let him know, I'll taken them downstairs," Kyran said, standing up.

"Thanks," Andy said, rushing off to tell Darryl.

"Well, come on guys," she gestured for them all to follow her.

"That guy's your boss?" Jed asked, coming up alongside her as they headed for the elevator.

"Yeah. He's great," she laughed.

"He just… I dunno, doesn't seem very much like a boss," Jed chuckled.

"Well, he used to be a salesman here," she explained. "But then they're old boss moved to Colorado. He was actually the second choice, the first choice managed to get the CEO job and he picked Andy. That's why I'm here, I got his old job."

"Makes sense," he nodded.

They loaded onto the elevator and headed down to the coffee shop. A few minutes later, Andy joined them.

"No Darryl?" she asked when he appeared by himself.

"Oh, he's coming down soon," he waved her off. "So guys, excited?"

"Yeah, I'm really glad Kyran called, I've been looking for work everywhere," Jed sighed.

"Yeah, it's rough out there," Andy shook his head.

"Yeah, my roommate'll be pretty happy, I can finally pay him for last month's rent," he laughed.

"Who's your roommate?" Kyran asked.

"Oh, well, I've been living with Nik for a few months now.

"Wait, are you serious?" she asked.

"Yeah. He didn't tell you?"

"I've… been avoiding his calls," she admitted.

"Why?" Jed asked, taken aback. "You used to have the biggest crush on him!"

Andy felt himself clam up a little. Why did a small twinge of jealousy pang him when he heard that.

"I did, but I wasn't good enough for him in high school. He changes his mind now because… Well, you know," she shrugged. "I don't really appreciate it, I guess."

"Sounds like a jerk," Andy mumbled.

"I've always thought that," she laughed. "He's really not, he's a good guy, I just… Well, feelings change, you know?"

"Yeah, I hear ya," Andy nodded.

The elevator doors opened behind them and Darryl came out, looking rather annoyed.

"Surprise! Your new crew," Andy said, gesturing to the four guys.

"Would you just fire me, man?" Darryl asked.

"Why?" Andy said quieter, taking Darryl around the corner. "Because you didn't win the lottery? How am I supposed to make you happy?"

Kyran tried to appear absorbed in a scratch on the linoleum, but she was listening very intently to them.

"You wanna make me happy? Huh? Give me your job," Darryl said.

"Uh, what?"

"I'll do it better than you," Darryl insisted. "I earned it. I deserve it. I got passed over, god knows why, for reasons I cannot and will not understand… The job was mine, Andy, everyone said it was mine. Make me manager, or fire—"

"I'm not gonna give you my job!" Andy exclaimed. "It's my job, I earned it! And here's the thing, you weren't even next in line. I asked about you. I saw your file. You have a history of being short with people and you hired Glen, you're buddy, to replace you in the warehouse. He was underqualified, and they saw that."

"Also Darryl," one of the new hires, Nate, cut in, "I already told this to Andy, but you should probably know, I technically don't have a hearing problem. It's just that when there's a lot of noises, I—"

"Nate!" Andy interrupted. "Please… Thank you…" He turned back to Darryl. "You have no business education. You were gonna take classes under Deangelo. What happened to that?"

"He died!"

"He didn't die, his brain died," Andy corrected, leaving Kyran wondering exactly what she'd managed to miss before getting hired here. "And my brain is still very much alive, and I'd be happy to give you business classes. How come you haven't asked me about it?"

"What… What was the last part? I-I'm having—" Nate interjected.

"No part of this has anything to do with you!" Andy said.

"Come on, Nate," Kyran said, pulling him back from the conversation.

"I didn't have time because of my daughter," Darryl explained.

"Oh, but you had time for a softball clinic, and a Mediterranean cooking class," Andy said.

"Hey, I'm not gonna tell you this stuff if you're gonna throw it back in my face," Darryl said defensively.

"Hey, here's the thing: Jo saw something in you. She loved you! She gave you a shot, and then you stopped pushing. She noticed," Andy pointed out.

There was a heavy silence. Kyran shared a nervous glance with Jed, who raise dhis eyebrows, and she grimaced.

"Okay," Darryl finally said.

"Okay, what?" Andy asked.

"Okay… Don't fire me."

They eyed each other up for a minute, then Andy smiled.

"Okay," he said.

They shook hands, and Darryl smiled too.

"Okay, guys, be here by 8 tomorrow morning so we can get started, I'll show you how everything works," Darryl said, turning to the four guys Andy had hired. "We can go fill out the paperwork now."

They followed him onto the elevator, leaving Kyran and Andy alone in Dwight's Caffeine Corner. Andy stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked at Kyran with a bashful smile. She shook her head and let a smile spread over her face.

"Looks like you really didn't need my help with that," she laughed, crossing her arms over her chest again.

"Au contraire, my lady. You helped me out all day," he corrected, trying to ignore her cleavage and looking straight at her face. "I don't know how to thank you."

"Andy, I really didn't—"

"No," he said, stepping toward her and stopping her. "You really were a big help. And don't try to modest yourself out of it."

"Alright, alright," she raised her hands in defeat. "You can make it up to me another time then. I'll hold it against you until you do," she winked. "Let' go back upstairs."

They waited for the elevator, and Andy suddenly remembered something he'd thought of earlier in the day. Something he was very curious about.

"So, uh… Your friend Jed looks really qualified for the job. You picked well," he said.

"Yeah, plus he was unemployed. It all worked out pretty well," she shrugged.

"So, you said you knew him from high school? Like, an old boyfriend or something?" he asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

Kyran laughed loudly, startling Andy.

"Absolutely not!" she exclaimed. "On a list of people I would date, Jed falls just after Justin Biber."

"Oh," he nodded, smiling a little more now as they stepped onto the elevator. "That bad?"

"Well, I just always thought of him as more of a brother, and I know he thought of me as a sister," she shrugged. "Never anything there, ya know?"

"Yeah, that's kind of how I feel with Erin. Like, I used to really like her, but now there's just a more brother-sister kinda thing," Andy explained.

"So you get it."

"Well, I mean, I think she still might like me a little more than I like her," he added.

"Then it's not quite the same," she laughed. "It's more like me and Nik, I guess."

"Well," he shrugged as the doors opened on the third floor.

"Well," she repeated in a deep voice.

"Are you making fun of me?" he asked, looking at her with a shocked expression.

"Absolutely not, boss man!" she cried, clasping a hand on her chest for dramatic effect.

"Good, 'cause I can fire you," he threatened.

"But then who would entertain you all day?" she winked as they returned to the office.


	4. Chapter 4

Kyran pulled up to Schrute Farms for Andy's garden party in her Honda Civic, and immediately a man knocked on her window. She jumped in her seat. He knocked on the window, so she rolled it down.

"I'm here to park the cars," he announced.

"Oh, well, alright then," Kyran said, grabbing her purse and coat before getting out of her car.

The man sat down inside and tore off before she'd managed to get the door closed. She honestly didn't know her car could accelerate that quickly. Shaking her head, she drew up to the house, where a slight hum of noise could be heard. She passed under an awning and looked out over the yard.

"MISS KYRAN FRANTZ!"

She jumped again and turned to see Dwight dressed in a server's uniform standing stoically behind her. He was apparently announcing the arrival of new guests. She spotted Pam and Jim taking their seats under the large tent and strode across the yard to join their table.

"Hey, guys," she said, putting her coat and purse down on the chair next to Pam's.

"Hey," Jim turned toward her.

"Oh my god!" Kyran exclaimed, catching sight of the little girl in Jim's arms. "Is this Cece?"

"Yeah," Pam nodded.

"Oh, she's so cute!" Kyran cried. "Can I hold her?"

"Yeah, sure," Jim shrugged.

Kyran reached out and took Cece in her arms. She looked at Kyran for a minute before smiling from ear to ear.

"Hello, Miss Cece," Kyran cooed.

Kyran couldn't help the smile that spread over her own face. She loved kids, and they always seemed to like her. Kyran put her down and watched her totter back to Pam.

"Oh my gosh, you guys, she's so cute," Kyran said, still smiling.

Andy had watched the whole interchange with rapt attention. Kyran looked so happy when she was holding Cece, and Cece looked very much the same. He was only pulled out of his trance when Dwight announced the arrival of his parents, and he raced off to attend to them.

Kyran spent the first part of the party talking to Jim and Pam, who were taking turns playing with Cece. However, she very much lost it when Dwight and one of the serving girls stepped out onto the grass and performed a courtly dance. She had to walk away from the crowd because her snorts were attracting a lot of attention.

She returned to the table where Pam was sitting with Cece. Jim and Darryl joined them shortly after.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Dwight shouted, back at his spot near the awning. "Mr. Robert California!"

Everyone applauded, and Andy dragged Robert over to meet his parents. They were very resigned and seemed to be distracted. Kyran noticed his father look at his watch more than once. They all sat down at the table next to Kyran's and she listened to their banter. It was so cordial, you would only know that it was Andy's parents by the way he was trying to get them to notice him.

"Ohhhhh," Kyran nodded, a light bulb going off in her head. "I get it now."

"Get what?" Pam and Jim both asked.

"Everybody," Andy announced before Kyran could elaborate, standing from his seat. "I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank you all for coming, and to raise a glass to my amazing staff."

They all lifted their glasses and took a drink. But Andy wasn't done yet.

"Let's hear from you guys," he suggested. "Who do you want to toast?"

"Yeah, I'll say something," Darryl stood up.

Darryl toasted Robert California, Angela toasted her unborn son Phillip, Pam toasted her unborn son (also named Phillip), Ryan toasted the troops, Dwight cut in with a rendition of the Last Supper, Kevin toasted Robert California again, Gabe toasted him a third time.

"You can't triple toast somebody," Andy laughed, but Kyran could tell it was forced. "I mean, at least not until we get everyone once."

Robert California then stood up and toasted everyone but Andy. Kyran bit the inside of her cheek as she watched Andy squirm. Every time she had tried to raise her glass in an attempt to toast him, she'd been interrupted. Gabe stood up to toast Robert California once again, but Andy cut in, now holding a guitar.

"Some of you may know that we have an internet star in our midst," he said. "Mr. Walter Banes Bernard Sr., please report to the stage."

"Oh, I'm eating, Andy," his father shrugged from his seat.

"Come on," he urged.

His father obliged half-heartedly, and Andy began to play. Kyran thought he was really good, and he had a nice voice as he started to sing (goofy though he may have sounded at certain times), but his father seemed to think it wasn't good enough. He took the guitar from Andy and began to play in the same key Andy had started in. Every time Andy tried to harmonize, his father snapped at him.

"You know what," his father said, stopping completely, "Walter Jr. is here, why don't you come up here and join us. Come up here and do something with me."

Though he pretended to protest, he eventually stood up and joined his father, pushing Andy off to the side. Most people seemed to be enjoying the performance, but Kyran was finding it painful to watch Andy cringe. Before they could finish, Andy took the guitar from his dad and stalked away, leaving everyone staring after him. The party broke up, and Jim took Cece upstairs to play in her pen. Kyran was talking to Toby when she noticed Andy's parents looking anxiously at their watches.

"We're going to miss it if we don't leave soon, Walter," his mother blanched.

"Alright, I'll go look for him. Have Walter Jr. get the car."

His father marched toward the house, and something came over Kyran. Muttering a hasty apology to Toby, she took off after Walter and followed him into the house and up the stairs. She crept after him as quietly as possible and watched him knock on the door at the end of the hall. She tiptoed up and leaned against the wall, listening.

"What was that… display?" Walter asked after a moment of awkward silence.

"I dunno, I just thought that… if I could throw this great garden party and show you how respected I am, maybe that… you'd be proud of me."

"Andrew…"

"I know, I know that you're proud of me."

"I'm not gonna tell you how impressed I am that you're a _manager_ of some rinky-dink branch of a paper company in Scranton, Pennsylvania. How long are you gonna go one needing my approval? You're a grown man, don't act like a little boy who needs his daddy to tell him how great he is. This is ridiculous, Andrew."

"Yeah," Andy muttered, defeated.

"I mean, Walter Jr., now there's a man to be proud of," his father said.

"Yeah," Andy repeated.

Kyran realized that she was digging her fingernails into her palms and forming crescent-shaped indents in her hands. She couldn't take it anymore. She poked her head around the door and cleared her throat. Both of the men snapped their heads up to look at her.

"Sir, your wife is ready to go," she said, addressing Walter.

"Ah, yes. Well, thank you for having us, Andy," his father said, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Sure," Andy mumbled, not standing up.

"We'll be in touch."

With that, he swept out of the room with little more than a not in Kyran's direction. She and Andy let the heavy silence permeate the room, broken only by Cece's occasional playing. Kyran walked over and leaned down, picking up one of her toys and holding it delicately.

"You know," she said, staring at the toy, "I have two little brothers. Chandler is 24, and Noah is 16. They grew up so fast… Anyway, they've always had pretty high expectations to live up to. I guess I set the bar pretty high. I always make it a point to tell them how proud I am of them both. Even if it's not things I would do, I make sure they always know I'm proud of what they do. I think that's really important."

She turned to look up at Andy, who—she could tell from his set jaw and profuse blinking—that he was trying to keep from crying.

"I just…" he choked, his voice breaking. "I… He's always so proud of my little brother. And that's great, he's a great kid. I just… I just wish I could be good enough for him sometimes."

"Maybe you never will be, Andy," Kyran said, moving to sit down on the bed next to him. "But maybe that isn't what matters. Do you think you're good enough?"

"I… I don't know," he sighed, resting his elbows on his knees and burying his face in his hands.

"It really only matters what you think, Andy," Kyran said. "We all think you're good enough. You're our boss, and we haven't quit, so we obviously think you're good enough. Maybe you'll never be good enough for your dad. But when you think you're good enough, it won't matter what he thinks."

She laid her hand on his back and patted it gently. Seeing him like this made her feel upset. He sighed and lifted his head, meeting her eyes. She noticed what a striking blue they were. He gave her a half-smile that managed to reach his eyes.

"Thanks," he said.

"Anytime, boss," she replied.

She looked down at the toy in her hand, and Andy did the same. They both began to laugh.

"What is that thing?" he asked.

"It looks like a cross between a turtle and a dog," Kyran managed through her laughter.

Kyran put it back in Cece's pen and stood up.

"Is it starting to die down out there?" Andy asked.

"I think so. You should come down," she said, laying her hand on his shoulder before heading back out the yard.

The party really had died down, and the only people left were coworkers. They were all gathered around the grill Darryl had brought. A blanket had been laid out, and chairs were set up around it too, as well as one of the tables. Everyone was just sitting around, laughing and talking. Kyran grabbed a glass of wine and sat down on the blanket with Ryan, Erin, and Kelly. A few minutes later, Andy came down.

"Hey everybody," he said, "I'm gonna leave. I, uh… just wanted to say I'm really sorry."

"Cheeseburger or hamburger?" Darryl asked.

Andy hesitated for a minute, looking around at the expectant faces. They wanted him here with them.

"Um… Cheeseburger?" he replied.

"Nard Dog," Oscar called to him, tossing him a soda.

"Thanks, Oscar," he said with a shy smile.

He took a seat on the blanket next to Kyran. She looked over and smiled warmly at him, and he smiled sheepishly back.

"We think you're good enough," she whispered.

In the distance, they heard drums and saw Dwight and the other waiters and waitresses doing some sort of tribal dance with torches.

"What are they doing?" Pam asked.

"Closing ceremony," Jim replied as if it was completely normal.

As the chatter resumed, Kyran leaned back and looked at Andy.

"I couldn't get a word in when it mattered, but… To Andy," she said, lifting her glass.

"Thanks," he said, that smile returning once more.

"You deserve it, boss man," she said, smiling back and lifting the glass to her lips.


End file.
